


The Masterplan

by sososoft



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, M/M, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-21
Updated: 2018-10-28
Packaged: 2019-08-05 14:06:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16369043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sososoft/pseuds/sososoft
Summary: Jaemin drove down the highway past midnight with his friends. They're all high off the coattails of a university soccer game.That is until they find out their world has ended.October 3, 2018





	1. Live Forever

 

  **October 3, 2018**

 

It was just midnight when we got the news. No one saw it coming. No one could believe. They’d invaded. The words dusted through the radio of their rusty old jeep which somehow held the seven of them if they piled together just right, blasting down the highway.

 

Fear drenched into their eyes twisting in tendrils down, down to grip their hearts.

 

“This is a joke right? I’ll just… why doesn’t my phone work?” The panic in Chenle’s voice dazed through the vehicle. He was the happy virus, usually the one who turned his nose up at drama to look on the bright side.  When he found sadness it was a bad day for the earth.

 

No one’s phone worked. The other side took out the cell towers first - seconds before the report forced it’s way onto all wavelengths of communication to announce that if they didn’t surrender they’d be killed.

 

Jaemin never really understood why people fought wars. He believed in diplomacy and peace negotiations. No one really ever _wanted_ to be in one, did they?

 

“Where do we go?” He was driving, Jaemin was forced to maintain some sort of level head. “Where do we go where we can hide?”

 

They all thought it through… or more so gave out panicked answers. They could go home everyone wanted to find service and check in with their families; especially Jisung and Chenle who still lived with theirs.

 

The oldest knew better. There was no way they could survive hoarded up in the city. It was probably the first attacked. Solders were likely rounding the streets searching for people to kill or capture. Who was to say if people were left without electricity, food, clean water. It would be devastating. It was Mark who put his foot down. They needed a safer place to go.

 

“Taeyong” Jisung gasped, of course. “He has that botany lab in his basement and they have plenty of room there I know for a fact he grows tons of food.. Aren’t they nearly off the grid?” they all breathed somewhat of a relieving gulp of air. It wasn’t going to be easy. Nothing would be easy again. Taeyong’s house slept the 11 comfortable university students to whom they called friends. They threw the best parties - parties the group of boys could barely recall in their panic.

 

Taeyong was studying botany and sustainable indoor farming. Kun and Yuta were studying engineering focused on sustainable living. They’d completely decked the house out with solar panels and rainwater reserve systems along with other more heavily experiment based sustainability features to both help them in school and keep the bills low.

 

In different circumstances the boys would have laughed at the thought of Jaehyun and Johnny with their weird Zombie Apocalypse obsession; which had the house all sorts of prepared for the end of the world. When it actually felt like the end of the world... it didn’t seem so funny. It made the house a safe haven.

 

They blasted down the highway approaching the nearest exit but what they found… Jaemin veered off the road, throttling through edges of growth but mostly tall grass.

 

“Get down” he shouted as bullets shattered through the windows like piercing screams of hopelessness. There was a barricade blocking anyone from exiting. No vehicles, just men with guns running after their car - the vantage was theirs and he soon turned onto the main road.

 

“Is everyone okay?” Donghyuck perked up when it seemed like they were safe. Cuts scattered some of their arms, shoulders wherever the glass fell but no one was vitally harmed.

 

Jaemin pulled over when they were far enough away so they could dust the shatters out of the car, catch their breaths.

 

“It won’t be safe to stop for too long” said Mark who was currently sporting a ‘what the fuck do we do’ expression. His direction was becoming a sort of comfort, but the guys knew that he couldn’t keep it up.

 

What the fuck would they do?

 

“What if everyone we love dies?” Renjun spoke up. Jaemin hadn’t remembered him speaking at all while they were in the car and now he was speaking their innermost thoughts, thoughts that could rip screams through their hearts. Jeno - who was currently in the passenger seat kicking out the shattered windshield - froze.

 

“No, we can’t think about that. We have to move on. I’ll drive.” Mark insisted, he knew the way better and admittedly played enough Grand Theft Auto and Halo to think he could navigate a war zone. That blind hope would get them through everything. It had to.

 

Mark avoided the main road which they normally took to the house. It should have been about 30 minutes away. The back way took much longer. The Jeep scuttled along dirt road after dirt road and they swore at one point they were driving on a river.

“Are you sure you know where you’re going?” Donghyuck asked in his ‘I don’t fucking care if I annoy you because we better not get lost’ voice. Jaemin was happy for light moments as such. They were all terrified, clinging to one another and looking out the shattered windows in search of more soldiers.

 

“Yes I drove this way with… girls sometimes, to and from some of the bigger parties. It’s easier to woo when surrounded by nature. This is my handy dandy personal short cut.” He prided, earning a few well put teases in return.

 

“We don’t need to hear about your questionably drawn out sexcapades.” Jisung teased - his right as the youngest who shouldn’t be hearing about such games in the first place.

 

“If by questionably drawn out you mean completely consensual, I’ll give it to you.” Mark grumbled earning a few soft laughs from the group. They weren’t the sort of people that could remain without laughter or light hearted thoughts for long periods of time.

 

Jeno was whining to Renjun about how he hated hugs but conceded to the gesture for the sake of ‘warmth’ - with the broken windows they couldn’t really afford to give up any heat sources. Jaemin himself didn’t mind latching his strong arms around Donghyuck in the passenger seat and Chenle seemed comfortable enough to pile on top of the reluctant - and very straight -  Jisung.

 

Despite their best efforts they were all freezing when the jeep stopped. Mark kept it tucked in the forest yards away from the joyfully lit house.

 

Jaemin wondered aloud - “Do you think that they have any idea what’s going on?”

 

“Probably not.” Jeno answered softly, thinking through the question. “They probably think the satellites and cell towers are taking a break or something. Does that even happen?”

 

No one really knew. Maybe they were getting reception on their satellites or maybe they were too focused on their hideaway to notice. Jaemin wondered how things would have gone if they weren’t in the car that night. They had to beg Jisung’s mom to let him go out on a school night and Renjun almost stayed in to work on an at home bio quiz.

 

The University Soccer match they went to was well worth the trip. Why hadn’t they invaded during the match? Maybe midnight was a steadier time. On a Tuesday night most people would have been home and asleep.

 

Jaemin woke from his thoughts when they reached the front door. Mark knocked.

 

◇

 

They earned an odd smile from Lucas when the friendly giant answered the door. “What are you all doing here so late? Lookin a mess...” his words came out kindly without intent to make them feel unwelcome.

 

“Is everyone home?” Mark rushed in - dismissing his question and they all piled in behind them to step out of their shoes.

 

“What’s going on?” Sicheng yawned from the couch where they all seemed to be watching a projected rendition of Deadpool 2 - likely sourced from Lucas’ massive collection of movies which he kept in an electric blue external hard-drive.

 

Was it chaos that ensued? Chenle, Jisung, and Renjun felt what all seven of them felt - a sense of safety clouded by the questioned reality of what was going on. The three guys couldn’t control their tears of exhaustion and mixed emotions. They incited alarm.

 

“Do you have a radio? There’s a broadcast explaining what happened.” Jaemin spoke up. Mark, Jeno, and Donghyuck appeared to be shaking at this point. He knew it was only a matter of time before Mark would break down. He’d been holding on so tightly all the way there and being around his Hyung’s changed his power of responsibility.

 

His question was mostly met with blinks but Johnny hopped up to grab one out of the end table beneath the tv. Jaemin rushed over to flip it on. Any station played the broadcast.

 

**_your new lives. Anyone who does not obey will be cleansed. Attention Citizens. You are under attack. Do not resist. Your military is weak as is your efforts to fight. Leave your homes. They are no longer yours. Come to the city square by 8am tomorrow to start your new lives. Anyone who does not obey will be cleansed._ **

 

The older guys gazed at them with confusion, noticing the cuts, the wear at their clothes. The announcement continued to play on a loop and even as Johnny flipped from station to station it played the same, the same timing, the same loop.

 

“Very funny guys. You got the little ones to cry and everything?” Doyoung’s voice was shaking with disbelief. It was hard to believe. Jaemin thought he may not have believed it himself if he hadn’t been there, been shot at. When Renjun didn’t break and throw something at him because the man called him little Doyoung began to doubt his question.

 

“What’s going on?” Jungwoo asked in his soothing quiet tone which seemed to unify the glances of confusion centered in the room.

 

“We were leaving the after party for that soccer game and driving down the highway when our bluetooth turned off. So, Mark changed to the radio and we heard this. We heard this and bombs in the distance.” Another voice seemed to take over Jaemin’s. He just had to get the information out, the occurrence out of his head so he may never need to speak about it again. “We were pretty much the only car on the highway and knew that we couldn’t go back to the city so we drove here. When we got to an exit there was a blockade and men started shooting at us. I drove us off the road. No one was shot but they killed the windows of the jeep and cut us up pretty bad. Mark started driving, and our jeep is in your back woods. I don’t think anyone followed us.” Jaemin allowed himself to stop, to breath in the panic and confusion that surrounded him. He coped by attaching his arms around Donghyuck again.

 

The men knew why the seven of them chose their house. They weren’t fully convinced that it was a prank until Kun flipped the projector over to the news which ran on a satellite. The announcement played the same on every channel on a propaganda loop full of death, destruction, marching armies and various war machines.

 

A unified “Fuck” filled the air. Emotions batted off the walls soaking and excreting agony, confusion, rage, worry… Their families. It didn’t matter that most of them were Study Abroad students capturing their degrees in the US because it would look fantastic on their resume’s back at home. They still knew people, loved people, were themselves in this mess of an event. Jisung and Chenle’s parents worked for the university and were likely dead. Johnny had no idea if this touched his home town in Illinois or not. The heavy thoughts didn’t go unnoticed in the room.

 

“What do we do?” Jungwoo’s voice calmed through the room again, empathizing a goal to take them out of their frozen state.

 

“We fight.” Jaehyun stood up, he and Johnny had been preparing for Zombies not killing actual people and he wasn’t stranger to that fact in his false standing confidence.

 

“That’s a quick way to get all of us killed or make all of us feel dead inside.” Taeil who had previously been quiet, spoke. His voice was steady, calm - much like Jungwoo’s. Taeil was studying ethics, political science, and philosophy at the University. He knew rich amounts of history, diplomatic policy and turned his nose up at war completely.

 

“People know we’re here, they know we’re a good place to hide out. We’re completely off the grid. We don’t even have postal service or an actual address. We’re as safe as we can be here. We should stay here. We have the resources to feed people, sleep people, and capture any invaders if we need to. We can not kill anyone.” He didn’t just earn the respect of their silence for his age. His wisdom carried the flame.

 

No matter how much they wanted to jump on the train of side versus side Taeil continued to talk. He continued to make them see that there were real people behind those guns who probably had families and homes. He strongly believed that kindness and peace was the best high road to take no matter the situation. Even though Johnny and Jaehyun normally teased him about being a hippie, they too listened and respected his thoughts.

“So we stay here.” Johnny agreed, seeming as a spokesperson for the ‘let’s fight’ movement, Johnny’s agreement solidified the path for the young men.

 

They dedicated shifts of 3 to keep watch in 4 hour regular rotating shifts. They knew that their best option would be to stay inside the house and look out from the tower like attic with the night vision binoculars that Jaehyun and Johnny pulled from their zombie hunting kit. They stocked the room with regular binoculars, and water.

 

Jeno, Yuta, and Doyoung were technically on the first shift but they all agreed that the younger men needed to get cleaned up and rest because of their traumatic drive over and Doyoung needed to work on a project for their safety. Jaehyun and Johnny went to the tower with Yuta for the first lookout shift.

 

The combinations weren’t perfect, but all of them knew how serious it would be if they were caught. Kun took Taeil and Sicheng over to his workshop in the barn where they began to cut panels of metal for window coverings. The three set to covering every window in the house void of the windows surrounding the tower. They couldn’t move back and forth much, for fear of being seen if anyone happened to be above or around.

 

Doyoung went off to create a communication network with Taeyong and Jungwoo. Their goal was silent communication. They couldn’t use radios, it was clear that they were being used in the war. What was left to them? Frequencies, Vibrations, Lights. They set up a network of lights in the house that would flash if someone in the tower hit the panic button. After they finished Taeyong and Jungwoo went to bed.

 

It didn’t feel like enough to Doyoung. They needed more ways to get the attention of each other, to warn for danger, to look out around the property. They definitely couldn’t fly drones around but Doyoung had set a network of cameras out around the property because some of their items were very valuable and they needed some type of surveillance on the property in case they were robbed. So he took to creating a private network for that - something that he hadn’t tried before and would likely fuck up.

 

The younger men took to cleaning themselves of their cuts in the bathroom, taking short showers and plopping into bed. No one wanted to admit how scared they were. That can of worms felt too slippery of a slope to wriggle down. There were at least two guest bedrooms. One with 8 twin sized beds bunked into 4 and another with one king sized bed. They all wanted to stay together for that night at least, moving into the room with the bunk beds.

 

Jaemin still had his arms around Donghyuck for comfort. They both continued to soak one another up in avoidance of the nightmare outside. They took a bottom bunk against the wall with no one above them and Renjun beside them.

 

“Minnie” Donghyuck pressed the soft of his nose against the underside of his jaw, lips moving in buzzes against his neck with each small hum he made.

 

“Yes?” Jaemin secured his hold against the small of his waist to comfort his friend, to feel his own sweep of comfort in the closeness.

 

“Do you think we’ll die?” He was so quiet Jaemin just barely puzzled the sounds together to make words. He had no idea, how could he know? Chances were that they would but the set up seemed so safe that maybe they could just hide away here in the comfort of the trees hoping that someday the war would end.

 

The house creaked around them. Jaemin could hear the others working on covering up the windows with drills by now. He splayed his fingers up beneath his shirt to soak in more of his sunkissed skin.

 

“I don’t know,” Jaemin finally whispered back while he tipped his face just shy enough to kiss the edge of his forehead. His skin was soft and sweet like sunflower butter filling his lips with energy. “But I know one thing.” Jaemin waited for Donghyuck to acknowledge that he wanted to know what came next. He met him with a smile, as kind of a smile that one would have in such a hard time. Though Jaemin could rarely gaze into the pretty hues of his eyes without smiling.

 

“I know that i’m thankful to be in this with you.”

 

Pink fairies dusted glitter over Donghyuk’s cheeks. Jaemin half expected to get hit but something about their day had his friend fragile enough to drink up the words, to settle back down against him in sight of sleep.

 

None of them slept for long.

No one expected them to.


	2. Acquiescence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their world has ended. Danger is afoot, forcing 18 young men into a hideaway where they must fend for themselves.  
>  _October 7, 2018_
> 
> Donghyuck has a secret. Or is it Jaemin that has one? Softhearted jabs threaten to rip their friendship apart all thanks to a dumb joke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I know this has already been posted but the format began to fit into this style of posting so I changed it. Hopefully I'll add another chapter by tomorrow <3

 

 

**October 7, 2018**

 

Jaemin awoke to soft long eyelashes fluttered shut near his own. In moments like this he traced constellations on his honeycrisp skin with the follows of his gaze. In moments like this he almost forgot the shape of their new life.

 

Rousing him from his sleep wasn’t necessary. It would be too cruel since every moment they spent in the bliss of their dreams hid the pressures and shapes of the day ahead. If not for Ten entering their room to sit on the edge of their bed he would have stayed curled up with Donghyuck for hours until their observation shift.

 

“Taeyong needs someone to pick acorns in the forest. You volunteered yesterday, right?” Jaemin nodded while pressing his touch in soft splays against the curve of Hyuck’s spine to pull him closer.

 

“Wake up.” he hummed lowly near the round edge of his ear, knowing full well that he needed to sit up to help move along the heavy breaths of coaxing him from his dreams. It wasn’t easy. Hyuck was just as stubborn to wake as he was with his lips huffing in buzzes spinning vibrations of tickles through his veins. The sleepy fellow buried himself deeper into Jaemin’s neck. He would have squirmed if he wasn’t so used to such gestures. Now he sort of… melted into a haze of smiles.

 

“We’ll be down soon.” he mouthed to Ten who seemed to be enjoying the sight of their… whatever it was that was going on between them.

 

“If you’re going to fuck, make it quick because it’s safest to go out and come in before noon.” He was always that blunt, always that embarrassingly obvious to call out what others kept quiet. Even though Jaemin loved that about Ten, his cheeks definitely shied to rises of soft red.

 

As did Donghyuck’s, who stiffened up and pulled away. The fluster in his face wasn’t ignored by their friend as he laughed, shutting the door behind him. It wasn’t Ten’s fault that the subject was so sensitive.

 

“Why did you let me do that when he was here?” Hyuck was awake now, snappy and full of spikes. All Jaemin could do was flash a faded smile and a shoulder shrug.

 

They got ready in silence. Jaemin tried his best to keep his eyes to himself whenever Donghyuck was in the room but it was a force of habit for him to stare, daydream. Sometimes the images he held of kissing Donghyuck were so vivid that he almost thought their lips had met before.The soft curve of his mouth seemed to latch around his thoughts with thick tendrils of rope, persisting to tempt him.

 

They decided to skip their morning rations. Instead they grabbed the burlap collecting bags (the kind of burlap sourced responsibly without pesticides or fire resistant chemicals and they were given a long rant by this hippy the day before because handling treated burlap could have proven to be pretty dangerous for the lungs and or their food………….) and made their way to the basement.

 

Now, when they first learned that Johnny and Jaehyun prepared the house for a zombie invasion, they weren’t fully aware of _how_ much they’d truly prepared.

 

“If they built tunnels to the barn and to the woods, you think they would have built a bomb shelter too.” Donghyuck joked to fill the boarded up, flashlight lit tunnel, with some sort of warmth; counter to their grumpy morning.

 

Jaehyun showed the both of them how to use their harnesses to climb up an oak tree many paces into the forest. He showed them which nuts to pick out, how to look for weevil larvae and instructed them to take the tunnel to the barn when their bags were full.

 

With lots to do an an awkwardness in the air they set to filling their 5 pound sacks with nuts.

 

Jaemin was about halfway done when a knock dropped on his head. He peered down to watch an acorn plop off a branch, and another, settling on the ground. The man shifted in his seat on a sturdier branch and glanced up to Donghyuck. The angles weren’t right.

 

“How’d you do that?” he whispered, glancing his way with the shine of a genuine smile. Jaemin thought maybe he wanted to clear up the awkwardness and forget about Ten’s comment.

 

“Do what?” he asked defensively, ice shattering through the branches to assure Jaemin that his thoughts were incorrect. Boy knew how to hold a grudge.

 

The next plop atop his head definitely wasn’t from Donghyuck because he was looking right at him when it happened. In their shared glance, Donghyuck saw it too.

 

WIth chuckles of disbelief they glanced up to the sight of rustling beneath leaves, scampering across branches.

 

“What the…” Jaemin caught the next one and laughed because when he opened his palm a perfect conditioned acorn was in the center, large and nutty.

 

“It’s a squirrel.” Donghyuck laughed out, hushing himself when he remembered why they couldn’t be loud. “Do you think it’s mad we’re taking its food?”

 

“No, this acorn is perfect. It wouldn’t waste a perfect acorn out of anger, would it?” Jae whispered back, moving back to his job with the perfect nut stowed in his pocket. He heard grumbles spill from the other, grumbles that had his smile going wry. He was a cute grump.

 

“Ow” It seemed to be Donghyuck’s turn and he caught the second nut, perfect in shape as well. “I’d appreciate nuts without harassment please.” he shook his fist, earning some chatter from the gray fluff ball now in their sight.

 

“You would scold a squirrel for helping you.” Jaemin felt joy twist around his words as the simple pleasure of the moment drifted to view.

 

They locked eyes.

 

“I’m sorry Hyuck.” he finally let the words fall from their place at the tops of their auras, sifting between them for the hopes of calm. His apology was met with silence, a break in the tension and a focus on distraction. Knowing Donghyuck so well, it wasn’t a mad sort of silence. They hadn’t talked through the situation yet; and now a conversation was in their future.

 

They plucked amber crest acorns from branch after branch until their sacks were full, cleaning at least one and a half trees of the amber flecked nuts that were easiest to reach.

 

Carefully they made their ways down the trees and set their stuff down to sit for a short rest. Both of them knew that this wasn’t the place to do so but the masque of privacy was too tempting after being cooped up with 16 other boys all the time.

 

“I’m not gay you know.” Donghyuck said after a moment with his spikes more knobby and bashful in the early afternoon shade.

 

“Just because I mess around with guys… it doesn’t mean that I want a boyfriend.” Donghyuck was pouting. He may not have been aware but the sweet soft of his lower lip jut to muffle his speaking in the slightest aegyo to melt Jaemin’s heart, just as he was icing it over.

 

Jaemin began to package every thought within himself up in neat pretty paper, wrapping tight with bows and ribbon, chains and locks. He buried the package deep in his thoughts. His lingering looks, images of fantasies; Donghyuck curled up in his arms asking for just one more kiss before they could fall asleep. There were swarms of smiles, laughter that licked up the edges of his mind surrounding every vision he had in a pleasant spell of warming. They were feelings that made him strong. They carried a sense of pride and recklessness that whispered lies like he could live forever. They were feelings that had to be locked away.

It was his own fault, his own fault for falling for his best friend. Jaemin got caught up in the image of what he wanted from Donghyuck; straying from the reality of where they were in life.

 

They slept together a lot in the comfort of their dorm back at the university. They were roommates and it was easy to hide their habit when it was just the two of them. Yet now - with 5 other boys in the room - some of those things they never discussed were becoming too real. The fear of their reality faded a little each day and with that - so did the comfort of their constant hugs.

 

“I’m going to sleep on the top bunk from now on.” Donghyuck finished up his thoughts and glanced above them. Jaemin followed his gaze. That box sunk deeper, sunk past his check and into his stomach. Ice began layering the chains.

 

He’d read once that trees communicated with one another through a vast network of fungus. They used that network to support one another and alert of danger. Was that what he was to Donghyuck, danger? He knew that his best friend wasn’t trying to hurt him.

 

There was always a reason behind every move Donghyuck made.

 

 _I am._ Jaemin thought to himself. _I am gay._ He’d never actually outright said the words out loud before. _Gay_ was just part of who Jaemin was.

 

“We should go.” he said instead, moving to his feet. Jaemin grabbed the ruffled tops of each sack and slung them over his shoulders. The harnesses were tucked under one of his arms and

 

Donghyuck sort of looked at him like ‘Really strong guy? Your ego’s making you carry that much?’

 

Jaemin met him with a smile and nodded towards the tunnel entrance which was hidden within the trunk of a thick tree. “Let’s go.”

 

And they did.

 

◇

 

First they got rid of the bad nuts, dumping their bounty into buckets of water - they tossed out the floaties.

 

Jaemin was caught up in stares again; those glances that were supposed to be locked away. This time Donghyuck noticed. The impact of his gaze had Jaemin glancing down to his bucket. He started sweeping a few floating acorns out of the water. One plopped to the floor just as a thick wet pop rang against his neck and rolled down the canvas of his sweatshirt.

 

He blinked towards Donghyuck with a wry smile, “Now, I know I can’t blame the squirrel this time.”

 

Donghyuck met him with a, “It definitely followed us!” in protest, holding his hands up in his innocence.

 

There was a lot to processing the nuts but in their new simple life they had time to dedicate to chores. They would need food. They couldn’t just rely on their reserves even though there was a lot of food.

 

Kun and Yuta decided that the fridge took up too much energy so this was the week where they were  eating up everything within it. They were building a root cellar off the meeting of their tunnels and that would serve as a place to naturally store what they would make.

 

The satellite internet that Doyoung was fixing, preserving, canning, drying, and fermentation, would be their friends but variety would save their spirits. Donghyuck and Jaemin were working on two different projects; cold leaching and hot.

 

First they set on shelling their acorns with sharp knives, using the flats of their palms to cut them into quarters. They then dropped the nutty insides into big buckets of water.

 

This time it was Donghyuck who would feel the scrapes of a plop against his neck. Jaemin whipped the delicate edge of a shell his way, completely obvious to his actions. He declared a different sort of war. This war didn’t have fire, screaming, shattering bullets. This war had smiles and that locked up laughter, ending in tickles as Donghyuck scampered his smooth curves over the weight of his best friend.

 

Cliche stillness took them over when lips neared lips. Jaemin thought for a moment that his vision was messing with him, had he fallen asleep? His gaze rushed down to the soft of his pink mouth laced around the vivid edge of his smile. Did Donghyuck’s gaze just flick down as well?

 

His stomach hardened into a solid that rapidly melted that pretty paper away, unleashing the heat of memories, of desires. Then he was gone, nearly five feet away the second footsteps clacked up the ladder from the tunnel.

 

“Come on you two.” Renjun and Jeno popped their heads up from the entrance of the tunnel and stepped their way over. They hadn’t seen a thing, he was completely sure of that.

 

“We’ll work on that. You need some food and to run your lookout shift.” Donghyuck and Jaemin glanced to one another and stood, shifting awkwardly to politely hand them their knives.

 

He could see the fear in Donghyuck’s gaze. The man knew they hadn’t seen anything as well, but he still felt caught; Jaemin could tell that much. Jaemin had to distract himself, breathe through the moment. He bent to show them how to cut without harming themselves which proved easy enough after they’d both picked apart two nuts.

 

“Stop procrastinating.” Jeno teased to lighten the obvious mood. “Go on.” the sense of quiet that met him was very unusual and they swore they heard Jeno mutter something about ‘stupid Ten’ - endearingly of course - as they headed back down the tunnel and towards the house.

 

If only he really knew why it wasn’t Ten’s fault.

 

◇

 

Jaemin wasn’t that hungry. He knew that he had to eat but sitting down in the kitchen didn’t seem like the best plan for him in that moment. He took an apple and some bread from his larger pile of rations, and wandered the house.

 

“He was in the library without a car. He was going to get a lift back. I should have made him come home earlier.” These words weren’t meant for Jaemin. The strength in Kun’s voice wavered through the doorway.

 

A tiny fist wrapped itself around Jaemin’s heart. Had he been so self thinking to have forgotten? Kun’s boyfriend. Kun had been working day and night with Yuta just trying to keep them safe. They were doing a lot of the hard work by blocking off the windows and building safety features. They even hung more cameras in the yard for Doyoung.

 

He’d been distracting himself.

 

Through the doorway Jaemin could see peeks of Jungwoo rub his palm softly over Kun’s back.

 

“Maybe we can go find them? Do you think he found her? She has a car and maybe they’re coming together.” Hope was trying to take shape in Jungwoo’s voice no matter how much it wanted to waver.

 

His sister lived in the city.

 

They got quiet after that, tears freeing from the grasps of their eyes to allow for the devastation to slowly take weight over their hearts. It was clear to Jaemin that they hadn’t given themselves much time to feel, to experience the full panic of their missing loved ones.

 

He backed away from the door and brought his rations over to Lucas who happily took them.

 

Jaemin wasn’t hungry.

 

◇

 

Jaemin jogged up the stairs to the attic to meet Jaehyun and Donghyuck for their lookout shift. Jaehyun’s eyes steadied over the screens in the center of the room.

 

Doyoung had figured out a private network and was now working on other, more important things. Different locations throughout the property filled each screen and Jaehyun used most of his focus in search of movement or anything strange. It helped because the tower couldn’t range the whole of their surroundings, mostly only showing one side of the house.

 

Donghyuck and Jaemin had a shorter range to watch over, each taking one side of the room in their daily task. Sometimes they traded, keeping a fresh perspective. However, Jaehyun strongly believed that the better one knew his lookout, the better he’d be at spotting things that weren’t welcome.

 

Unlike the previous days that tension joined them in the tower. Jaehyun noticed it right away.

 

“What’s going on with you two?” he asked knowingly without moving his sight from his task.

 

Jaemin wet his lips. He knew that there weren’t many secrets in this house. There wasn’t much to do besides chores and chatter. Doyoung was still working on opening up communication like the internet but they likely wouldn’t be able to use that for entertainment. They couldn’t pick at Lucas’ movie collection much because building and conserving energy would keep them safe.

 

“I don’t know what you mean.” Donghyuck finally answered, earning a soft smile from Jaemin. He admired how well the man stuck to his thoughts even when they inconvenience him. Even though Jaemin thought that Donghyuck was capable of changing his mind, he knew that that feat would only be challenged with hard work. That made him interesting.

 

The density of his stubbornness filled the room. It had to. Jaemin wasn’t going to make things worse by saying something dumb or assuming. He was caught up in searching for words.

 

Jaehyun wasn’t having it though.

 

“Ten makes stupid jokes all the time. It’s never bothered you both this much before has it?” His witty words were a challenge to them both.

 

“You’re talking nonsense Jaehyun. Everything is normal.” Jaemin finally spoke up. He didn’t want to say something stupid but he also couldn’t keep handing the bat over to Donghyuck for him to swing alone. Placing most of this weight on him made Jaemin a shitty friend even though he didn’t care if his friends knew he was gay.

 

“Alright alright.” Jaehyun mumbled in defeat.

 

They didn’t talk much for the remaining of the 4 hours at post. Donghyuck brought up the whole bomb shelter thing and Jaehyun swore that in a zombie apocalypse they would have been able to venture out and move around more safely. It wasn’t the same thing as a human on human war. His logic made sense but settled in inconvenience.

 

◇

 

That night Donghyuck slept in the top bunk.

 

If he heard or felt how restless Jaemin was, no one would know.

 

Jaemin felt his memories ice over again. They folded in on themselves and shaped into a metal box with chains and locks.

 

He tucked him away,

 

but, he still had his dreams. .

  



	3. Stranger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their world has ended. Danger is afoot, forcing a group of friends into a hideaway where they must fend for themselves.  
>  _October 16, 2018_
> 
> Jaemin fades his time into helping Kun. Life almost starts to feel somewhat normal as they fit into their new routine. 
> 
> That is, until the incident in the woods.

_The house_

__

_The barn_

__

 

**_October 16, 2018_ **

 

Days were beginning to fade into a routine. With routine came boredom, stirs of whispers hinting of change, false confidence in their safety, deeper worry for their loved ones.

 

Jaemin had been spending most of his time among the others, varying his days between helping Kun and Yuta with various projects and relaxing with some of the younger guys.

 

Donghyuck still slept in the bunk above him. Their contact fit into small spaces in dense blinks and quicker breaths; like in the kitchen that morning when Jaemin walked in - hair affray from sleep - he grabbed an acorn cake from his personal ration bin and began munching on it unknowingly. It was starting to feel less odd to eat alone - though the strangeness would never really shake.

 

Donghyuck stopped mid conversation with Mark upon his entrance - a feat that Mark very much noticed and smirked at.

 

The estranged friends only met gaze once, brief, casting their cheeks into dusts of peaches and pinks when the memories of their late night hugs and Jaemin’s visions of kisses drew back into their minds.

 

Jaemin left the room.

 

◇

 

“Hey kid.” Kun welcomed him into his workshop in the basement of the barn with the genuine shape of his handsome smile. Jaemin thought that if he could smile, any of them could. Yet, the shape of his own smile didn’t follow all the way up to his eyes.

 

Kun passed him a marker and a ruler instructing him to measure out each wooden plank that he made so they could be nailed into “L” shapes to frame out and secure the underground cellar they were building.

 

“So kid you switched from helping Taeyong with the food and cooking to helping me a over a week ago. I appreciate the help you know.” Jaemin glanced up from his mark on the wood and faded his lips into a half smile.

 

“Yeah I wanted to keep my hands busy and Taeyong has enough help at the moment.” The help referred to Donghyuck, Mark, Ten, Renjun, Chenle, Jisung, and Jeno; who all helped with gathering food from various places or preparing it in the way that Taeyong instructed - even if they weren’t all the best with the culinary arts.

 

“This has nothing to do with whatever is going on between you and Donghyuck though, does it?” Jaemin felt the tips of his ears burn in soft shadows of crimson. He wouldn’t have expected Kun to be the one to define out his situation.

 

Jaemin stayed silent with his mouth ajar in vision that he might attempt to say something but the words weren’t exactly shaping in the way that he wanted.

 

Kun stayed patient as he began shaping more strips of wood. It was the dust that forced Jaemin to shut his mouth this time.

 

“You know he’ll come around when he’s ready right?” When the saw spun to a stop, Kun glanced up at Jaemin again. His infectious hope was beginning to dust past the barriers of his skin to draw a smile over his hesitant lips.

 

“He doesn’t have to.” His smile parted into whispers to give growth to the words he’d been nurturing in his mind for days on end.

 

Donghyuck didn’t have to.

 

“But he’ll want to.” Kun’s strong arm moved around his waist. Jaemin swore his grip had more definition than he remembered, before the world came to a stop. He could probably blame all this woodwork. Maybe the sawdust was seeping into Kun’s brain to birth hallucinations.

 

“What makes you think that?” Jaemin sunk into his hold with both arms. It’d been over a week since anyone had given him the sort of hug he needed; since Donghyuck had. He imagined that it’d been even longer for Kun without his his boyfriend.

 

“He looks at you the way Sol looks at me. He wasn’t easy to catch at first either.” Kun’s breath moved more quickly as he spoke. Jaemin wanted to pause, to tell him that he didn’t have to talk about it but Kun already knew that he didn’t have to.

 

He wanted to.

 

“You know he ignored me at every party we went to? We went as a group and he would stay glued to Taeil to talk about politics and law like they were high, when I know that they weren’t.” soft laughs spun from Kun’s throat. Jaemin always admired the way the man was gentle with his voice, with his laughs. Each syllable of emotion held meaning because of the way that he cherished words and sounds.

 

“What changed?” Jaemin peered up to find a nostalgic smile dashed across Kun’s lips as he basked in the comfort of his memories.

 

“Ah” Kun shook his head and let out more intricate laughs, soft. “He spilled punch on me one night and I tried to tell him that it was okay and I didn’t care but he dragged me to the laundry room so he could clean my shirt.” Kun wet his lips to mutter that it was his only shirt.

 

“I was freezing in here. I’m sure you can feel that the Barn isn’t the most insulated place on the property. His smile was so easy to warm me up. I don’t know if it was my capacious crush on him or the amount of tequila i’d had but I kissed him.” Kun’s smile didn’t fade and Jaemin thought he noticed his eyes start to water.

 

“His lips were cunning, firm. He pulled me in so hard that I could barely think of my name that night.” a sigh fell at the end of the word filling the room with the calm nostalgia found in Kun’s gaze.

 

“The next day he pretended it didn’t happen. That went on for a while.” Kun was slower with his words now, as though he was piecing through his memories ot only fit some of them into words.

 

“But every time we partied he’d glue himself to me the second he had his first beer. After a few months he didn’t need the beer. I was patient and so busy with class that  I didn’t have the time to wait around for him to notice me.”

 

Jaemin pulled his lower lip between the edge of his teeth. He wasn’t busy enough himself. Donghyuck knew he was always around these days whenever he wanted. The man didn’t have enough time to miss him.

 

“One day he marched right into this room and demanded I stopped working for long enough to spend time with him. I was building the rainwater system with Yuta at the time and somehow he’d gotten Yuta to go off for awhile so he could invade my space.” Kun paused there, eyes pressing shut to relive the memory in his head.

 

“What happened?” Jaemin’s wonderment got the best of him and he found his gaze glowing in Kun’s direction. The hug felt different now, compensating. Jaemin nuzzled closer and waited for more.

 

“Ah, I made a joke. Said if he loved me so much he only had to ask to see me. He didn’t find it all that funny though. That’s when I became his boyfriend.” The story was missing something, an important key to the puzzle that seemed uniquely shaped to Kun’s heart.

 

Jaemin had to respect that it wasn’t a moment for him to know.

 

“So you think there’s hope for me?” his breath stilled after the question. Jaemin weighed the anticipation between the shapes of his words and the knowledge in Kun’s mind as though whatever he might say would be law.

 

“I think so.” Kun allowed him to breathe with his smile, his thoughts. What he didn’t tell Jaemin was that his hope may not fit in the gentle rays of Donghyuck.

 

◇

 

It was Lucas whose loud voice interrupted their moment, bursting into the room to part the bond of their hold.

 

He brought Yuta and Sicheng along with him for their daily building tasks.

 

If Lucas hadn’t been there they’d likely have some dreary conversation about the gray sky among the heavy sounds of saws searing through wood.

 

No. Their local friendly giant treated each successful “L” shape of wood he nailed into place - a different instrument. They’d each guess which instrument his gestures were mimicking.

 

The most obvious was a saxophone - which Sicheng was quite proud of himself for guessing right away.

 

Laughter shook sawdust off tables and onto the floor to warm the room with some sort of relief from the panic in their minds. For one of them, that panic never truly faded.

 

“How many projects do we have planned so far?” Jaemin asked as the laughter died down. He couldn’t help the curiosity swimming through his veins. It was curiosity that edged up along the shore of  possibility where Yuta and Kun enriched their little hideaway with innovation.

 

They’d already boarded up the windows with metal hidden behind curtains so it wasn’t quite clear that there was life within the walls of their oddly colored home. They were working on a cellar for food within the tunnels so they could bury vegetables, nuts, and fruit in the cool earth for preservation. Sicheng and Lucas perked up in question to aid in Jaemin’s curiosity.

 

“Ah well… It would be nice to have another form of energy but the hydro and solar seem to be doing well enough. It’d be safer if the river was closer, instead of a ways into the woods but we manage well enough. I know that Taeyong wants to expand our growing capabilities to outside in some sort of discreet way so I don’t think we can actually build anything for that.” Kun continued to ramble circling round the fact that there was a lot that they could do but they were running out of tasking projects to keep his mind away from straying focus.

 

Jaemin saw the kindness in his eyes as his older friend listed off ways he could try and help maintain their lifestyle. He knew that even if his boyfriend was around; Kun would still be working to help keep them safe.

 

“And what about fun huh maybe we could build a roller coaster or a zipline in the woods!” Lucas chimed in with his charming smile. He was a firm advocate for ‘we have to go outside sometimes or we’ll go crazy’ which reminded lifts of seriousness around the room to lighten up a little.

 

“Yeah,” Yuta agreed, “We’ll have the coaster zipping through the forest around trees and through tunnels.” Though his ideas weren’t taken as genuine ones it was nice to imagine. They couldn’t build the thing high enough to become genuine fun for grown men.

 

“Or we could just run away to an amusement park and lock the place down.” Sicheng’s voice filled the room with less realistic visions of dreams - though fun as they may be. Jaemin could see Chenle screaming his head off while a coaster zipped up and down the tracks. He could see Mark laughing so hard to hide the fact that he was pretty scared of the top of that coaster hill finally rushing down at full speed. Jaemin could see Kun smile as he beat Sicheng in that game where you aim a water gun at a target to see who could fill their spout the fastest.

 

An amusement park would be nice.

 

It was commonplace around the house to be restless these days. The thought that they needed something to fill the spaces of empty time with anything other than anxious stress was becoming clearer as each second ticked on their analog clocks.

 

After they cleared out of the workshop towards the beginning of the afternoon - Jaemin was thankful to find a wild Chenle with a brilliantly crazy idea.

 

◇

 

Who plays Hide and seek in the middle of the forest during a war? Who begs Taeyong and Jaehyun - who’d essentially placed themselves in charge for some reason - to let them play outside because even though they’re nearly adults, they still need to release sedentary from the vocabulary of their muscles? Who is really really really persuasive?

 

Chenle.

 

His face was hard to say no to.

 

Jaemin let his legs dangle from either side of the sturdy branch he’d hidden himself up in. A pine tree proved the promise of concealment. It also promised he couldn’t see around him that well so maybe it wasn’t the best strategy?

 

Chenle and Jisung were the masterminds of this plan to get out and do something. Lucas, Jaemin, Renjun, and Jungwoo got roped into this high steaks game.

 

They had to promise to be quiet, to be aware of their surroundings, and to stay close to the tunnel entrance so that they wouldn’t get lost.

 

At least they fit into two categories out of three right? The moment they burst from the confines of the tunnel the boys ran deep into the woods - almost near the river - to begin the game.

 

This brings us to Jaemin - the one hiding in the tree. He peered through the cracks of needles in search for expert Lucas, who may catch him if his eyes were as strong as his height.  

 

They were supposed to be quiet.

 

Supposed to be.

 

Jaemin expected to hear Chenle scream when he was found.

He hadn’t expected them to sound void of joy.

 

Something was wrong.

 

Jaemin jumped from his perch and raced towards the commotion followed by the heavy footsteps of his other previously hidden friends. His heart was nearly out of his chest in worry that beaded down his brow in sweat. If anything happened to Chenle...

 

It couldn't. 

 

He’d never seen a dead body before.

 

The river was stained with blood rushing over rocks and around bends in the thin point where they usually liked to cross. There nealt Chenle froze against a nearby tree with terror etched into his features.

 

There was a man face down in the river. He couldn’t have been much older than Jaehyun… maybe they were even the same age, same nationality.

 

Renjun was reckless to rush over. Jaemin and Lucas stood in shock. Jungwoo was nowhere to be found.

 

“There’s a pulse.” whispers of Renjun’s determination filled the trees with safety and warmth.

 

“Lucas come here!” His voice gave way to unfreeze Lucas who rushed over to help him turn the man over.

 

They didn’t question whose side he was on when Renjun opened his airway and listened for breathing.

  
He wasn’t breathing.

 

Renjun didn’t show any concern for who he might be trying to save when he showed Lucas how to perform chest compression's.

 

“Fit one hand over the other and lock the top fingers into the bottom hand. Lean the weight of your shoulders adjacent to the place of your hand and use your whole body to push against the center of his chest; hard and quick. You might break his ribs. It’s normal to hear bones crushing. Just keep going.” Renjun’s voice was calm as he showed him. The pre-med student knew that Lucas could do this task stronger than he could.

 

He had Lucas count the compression's up to thirty while he kept the strangers airway open by tilting his head. Then Renjun gave two rescue breaths recklessly without a mask. For all they knew the man could have been poisoned; but Renjun looked so determined.

 

Jaemin watched in disbelief, he stared as Lucas began crushing bones in his chest. Lucas was reminded in his dazed panic that it was normal and he kept going.

 

30 pushes, two breaths. Renjun was his guide, fumbling with the second breath he gave a third - assuring that the strangers chest rose up with each breath.

 

Jaemin watched as the stranger jolted in place. He watched while he turned to cough out gasps of water and gaze up at them with fear.

 

Lucas beat him to his gun and out of nowhere Johnny and Jaehyun came sprinting past the gaps in the trees to bind him upright.

 

Captured.

  


 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank those of you still reading for putting up with the few changes I made today. I finally managed to put this story on a structured path. 
> 
> Updates should come weekly <3

**Author's Note:**

> Some spoilers about the vision of this series: 
> 
> The progression of this story will bring new characters who are not introduced in the tags because of spoilers. The main focus will always be on Jaemin. The main focus will remain NCT. 
> 
> Relationships within this series will likely not go beyond romanticism - though if readers want, I may create some side fics based on this universe to do so in the future. There will be Hetero, Homo, and possibly Poly interests within the series. However, this isn't a romance novel and will attempt to remain an action based story with depth and development. 
> 
> The closest inspiration that this story has is a book series called the Tomorrow Series by John Marsden. However, I've only read the first book and do not plan to continue the series so that shows how loose that inspiration is.


End file.
